Pretty
by Prince Aoyagi
Summary: People had always called her a pretty little girl, until the day they began to pity her. And yet, she was as strong as ever. A focus on Mikado's relationship with Tokino.


People had always called her a pretty little girl. It's a shame that she was born to the family she was, they said. Pretty, pretty, they cooed, as she walked through the crowd, her brown eyes deadened and seemingly cruel to everyone. She spoke with a cold, disconnected voice, one that was devoid of emotion. A shame, they said. What a shame for her to be born into a family that had such a reputation for violence and trickery. A girl like her didn't deserve it, but Fate had rather decided it for her, leaving her no choice but to deal with what she had. There were rumours about her, spreading as if it were wildfire. Conditioned, they said. Conditioned to not feel and have no emotions, and to have herself under complete control at all times. They looked upon her with pity, pity that she didn't want and refused to take.

Gomon. The name itself meant torture.

Her mother died when she was nine. She wholeheartedly stepped up to the position left for her, the only thing she'd ever appreciated from her family. Number four, the executioner. She was more than fit for the position, and she proved her worth the day she almost boredly executed her first Septimal traitor. 'How worthless', she'd said, flipping a pink pigtail over her shoulder, brown eyes as emotionless as ever. Worthless and disgusting. She did her job with a certain professionalism that no one would expect from such a young girl. A professionalism that bordered on enjoyment. The only times she showed emotion were during her executions, when a small smile could be detected on her face as she watched the punished wither and struggle in agony.

Aoyagi Seimei had approached her after an execution. He'd observed, and had seen the small smile upon such a young girl's face, an amused tone underlying her strong, confident words, if only for a few seconds. His suspicions had been confirmed shortly after—He and her were one of the same. They weren't normal. They felt emotions the same way, both of them sharing a lack of feeling and emotions that they couldn't properly control, both of them needing that _one_ thing to survive.

She needed a reason.

He'd been like a big brother to her. They'd spent time together, the time they spent quaint and enjoyable. She'd considered him her 'friend', but it was really something more than that. They'd been just like each other. They'd understood each other. She'd found another person just like her, another person they said was emotionless and cruel, another person who was said to not be completely human.

Ten years old. They said they'd finally located him.

Fujiwara Tokino was his name.

The moment he was led into the room where the girl impatiently waiting, they both felt something slide into place. A connection. The Septimal Moon attendee left, and Tokino sat across from her, holding out something on his open palm for her.

"Milk candy?" He'd said, closing his eyes and smiling as he offered it out to her.

It was the first time anyone had ever seen Gomon Mikado struck speechless.

Tokino had always been slightly suspicious of Aoyagi Seimei, though the man hardly ever spoke to him and it was an even rarer occurrence for him to acknowledge him. He didn't care, though. Beloved had always left a bad taste in his mouth.

Their bond wasn't the best at first. It was obvious that he didn't understand her, and couldn't. He didn't understand her emotionless-ness, always insisting that she did have emotions, always tagging along after her with that goofy smile on his face. Annoying. How annoying. He couldn't even stay awake for so long. But… That was okay. He was okay. He was fine the way he was. She wouldn't have changed anything about him, no matter how much he could annoy her.

The first time he saw her for her real self was when he experienced her after an incident with her parental figure. There was an obvious slap mark right across her face, and she screamed for Tokino to go away and leave. She pounded her fists against his chest, screaming and yelling wordlessly, while he simple stood there. That was the first day their bond really started to develop.

Everything changed once Seimei betrayed them.

He began to see that other side of her more and more, and realized that she truly was still a child. Just a little girl, someone that Tokino loved and wanted to protect. He began to understand her more, and began wanting to understand more. Just this one little girl that he wanted to protect. Just this one girl.

He went to one of her executions, observing with an emotionless face as she slammed her stiletto heels into her victim's head and throat, toying with him and not quite killing him. She smiled, marching around in her heels, throwing her long, artificial pigtails over her shoulders. He watched, keeping his eyes on her as she finally grew bored and brought her shoe down one last time hard on the traitor's head, an audible crack being heard, even through the observation glass. He smiled when he saw her, a darker smile than usual, and offered her the usual milk candy, taking her hand and bringing her home.

He truly loved this girl.

And she had come to love and trust her steed, the one person she needed and fully trusted; the one person she could show her true self to.

* * *

"It's okay, Tokino."

Were those her hands? He was panicking—he couldn't tell, he couldn't tell, he couldn't tell.

"Shh."

All he could see of her was a pink blob coming slowly in and out of focus. Something was on his shoulders, his arms, dragging him towards her. Her hands? Were those her hands? He wanted to hold her in his arms. Fucking piece of shit, she'd said. He wanted to smile again at remembering the way she'd said those words. Such a pretty little girl. He'd protected her. He'd protected her this time.

The hands were in his hair now, brushing through the strands. Mikado, Mikado, Mikado Mikado Mikado…

"It's okay now, Tokino. Close your eyes. Sleep."

His head was in her lap. Sleep, sleep. It hurt. It hurt so much—

His chest hurt. His head hurt.

Akame was dead.

Aoyagi was dead.

Agatsuma's spell before he'd cried out in despair for his master—

"Shh…"

He'd protected her. He'd saved her. He'd shielded her. He'd been her knight.

"That's right, close your eyes."

A drop of water fell on his head as the darkness enclosed around him. She stroked his head, thin little fingers brushing through his golden brown hair. Sleep…

"I love you."

A tiny hand wrapped around his wrist, and Mikado didn't allow herself to cry until she felt his pulse completely stop.

* * *

Constructive critism and/or thoughts are welcome! The original prompt for this was 'Tokino sleeping with Mikado'.


End file.
